We'll Breakaway Together
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: "Hell Of A Girl" universe. It's October 5th, and Arnold's missing his parents. Nicole stays with him for support, and lives through "The Journal". As she does, she thinks of a song that fits both Arnold and herself perfectly...part songfic of Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". OC/Arnold family bonding. No romance but still fluffy. Please R&R, especially if you read "Hell Of A Girl".


**A/N: A little companion piece to everyone who enjoyed "Hell Of A Girl". This happened before the epilogue and after Nicole decided to stay. A little bit of sweet family time for Arnold – and I wanted to write a bonding scene between Nicole and Arnold for ages. I was inspired by a song I'm singing in my choir, "Breakaway", so that's in here.**

**Disclaimer: "Breakaway" belongs to Kelly Clarkson, and "Hey Arnold" belongs to Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon, who needs to allow the Jungle Movie to be made so Nicole's prophecy about Arnold finding his parents and him and Helga ending up together happens. Oh yeah, and I own Nicole.**

**Update: I've been warned about using lyrics - again. When Nicole sings it, please listen to the first half of the first verse. Arnold sings the next half of the verse, and they sing the chorus together. It can be found on YouTube.**

I'd honestly thought all the episodes had passed by, that day I arrived in the world of _Hey Arnold. _But no – I'd arrived in late April, after the April Fools' Day episode, meaning there was still _The Journal _to come. It didn't come until months after I'd established my place in this fictional world. I loved living in the boarding house, and no matter how annoying some of them were sometimes, I liked the boarders. I'd really grown to love Arnold's grandparents as if they were mine too, and although I was a boarder myself, I felt more like I was one of the family. Arnold was like a sibling to me, and we were quite close – I mean, when it came to surrogate siblings, Arnold was definitely closer to Gerald, but he did kind of treat me like a sister after the first couple of months.

But then October 5th came. I felt it around the house, and I remembered instantly that this was the day Stella and Miles took off and never came back. I could see it in Arnold's grandparents – Miles was _their _son, after all. And Arnold took ages to come downstairs, and realizing what day it was, I didn't try to go up.

When he finally did come down, he spent the next hour sitting on the stoop, staring out at the road. I knew better than to talk to him at all, but I sat down beside him.

It was then that most of our gang was passing. They stopped momentarily.

"Come on, guys!" Gerald said, grinning. "We're all going to Dinoland!"

"It's half price day!" Helga added.

As I'd expected, Arnold refused, and the rest of the gang was confused. I knew that Helga was going to call him a cheapskate, but I gave her a warning glance, and she remembered how she'd said she'd start being nicer to him, ever since I made her tell him how she really felt.

"I think I'll hang out at home today." Arnold told the rest of the gang, and they all walked off. Gerald hung back to ask Arnold if he was OK.

"It's just..." Arnold said. "Today is the anniversary of the day my parents left...and never came back."

Gerald even offered to hang out with him, but Arnold told him to go on, saying he'd rather be alone.

"OK." Gerald said. "Catch you later, Arnold. Come on, Nicole."

"Not me." I said. "I'm staying."

Gerald pulled me over to the side. "How come? Look, I don't think you staying with Arnold would do good or anything – he wants to be alone."

"Look, I know I'm not as close to Arnold as you are," I argued, "But I hate seeing him so sad. You think going to Dinoland would make me happier? I haven't even spoken to him once today. I'm just staying for support. No words needed. Besides, I couldn't enjoy Dinoland if I left him like this."

Gerald gave a sigh. "If you say so, Nicole. See you." As he ran to catch up with the gang, I spotted the only other straggler across the street, and motioned to Arnold as I caught her eye. Did she honestly not realize how conspicuous pink would be in a grey street?

It didn't help that while Helga was (supposedly) in the midst of her monologue, the car she was trying (and failing) to hide behind drove off, and she landed in the mud. Arnold looked up, and she blew a raspberry at him before walking away.

Arnold and I sat in silence for a few more minutes. I suddenly started humming a song, that, I realized, reminded me a lot of Arnold.

I felt it before I saw it. Arnold stiffened as a family passed by, and then his fists clenched and his face hardened. I knew what he was going to do – pack up all the stuff belonging to his parents, all those memories – even his hat, and that's when he'd find Miles' journal.

And then when he came back down from the attic, a smile on his face, his hat back on his head and Miles' journal in hand, I followed.

Arnold's smile slightly faltered at my presence and mouthed "_Did you know about this?"_

I nodded, and said out loud "What's the journal?"

The episode began to play out as it should. Arnold wanted to hear all the stories in the journal, and so did I (even though I had heard them before). I knew it was kind of a family moment (including Abner), so I shyly asked them if it was OK if I listened too. Of course, they said it was fine because they kind of had to for politeness' sake, but they seemed sincere, so I sat cross-legged on the floor as the story began.

Well, if you're reading this, you know the episode, so I won't go through everything. But there were some things that I should mention.

While we had a bathroom break, I finally asked Arnold "Is it really OK for me to listen to this? I know it's a family thing."

Arnold thought for an unbearably long time that was probably only ten seconds, then he nodded. "I know you've seen it all before, anyway. Nicole, you're like part of the family, so there's no harm in letting you hear it all again."

Unable to hold back, I pulled my friend into a quick hug, just before it was time to continue.

When it got to Stella acting as if she was ill and Miles being worried, Arnold started asking questions. "What was wrong with her? Was she really sick?" He made three tries, but I guessed first. Even if I hadn't seen the episode, I would have known.

I gave Arnold a nudge. "Kid, the answer's so obvious. You're practically standing on it."

Phil tried to give a hint. "Your mother was going to have..." he motioned a curve. I waited for Phil to say "rhymes with maybe", before I couldn't keep it in.

"Ooh, can I say it? I'm the one who hasn't guessed!" I exclaimed.

"Go ahead, Nic." I scowled at the abbreviation, but answered.

"Baby." I said. "She was pregnant."

"Bingo!" And of course, that baby grew up to become Arnold.

But first we heard about the volcanic eruption he was born in the midst of, and Miles and Stella coming back here with him. I remembered some of the scenes with Arnold's first birthday and other family moments – at least, that was until Phil started saying things about himself that obviously weren't written in the journal.

"Grandpa, you're making that up!" Arnold accused, taking the journal.

Then it got to Arnold going to the park for the first time, and therefore, I remembered all the baby versions of the characters. Baby Gerald playing ball with Martin, baby Helga and Phoebe on the swings while Bob and Reba were in some kind of argument, baby Rhonda with a nanny while her parents were on their cellphones...

Then it got to the end. We heard Miles' last entry. Arnold said he understood why his parents left and smiled at having answers, and then decided to take the journal and sit out on the stoop for a while.

"Mind if I sit with you?" I asked. "I know I've been like a leech all day, but I want to be here."

Arnold smiled again. "It's fine, Nicole, really. I know you've been concerned all day. If you want to, you can, but don't feel like you have to."

As we sat there together, I started humming the song I'd been singing before.

"What's that?" Arnold asked, looking up from the last page of the journal.

"_Breakaway._" I answered, singing part of it. Arnold joined in after a bit, obviously knowing it.

We sang the chorus together, our voices soaring. _  
_

I smiled at Arnold when we stopped singing. "You're like that song." I murmured. "You said I've been concerned. It's because I care about you, Arnold. You of all people deserve to be happy, when you try to help everyone around you and not expect a thing back. And," I sighed. "I hope we will find your parents one day. Remember that movie I told you about that never came out? If it happens how the creator says, you finding your parents is about as likely as you and Helga ending up together, if that makes you feel any better." I meant it as a 100% chance, because I knew for a fact that Arnold would end up with her.

Arnold gave me a tiny smile. "Nicole, the song's more like you. You came here, and you kept that secret for a long time, then decided to screw up the laws of our world and shape fate in such a way that you thought would make things better – and you have. You took the risk and made the change that I think...I think I needed that push."

I put my arms around Arnold again. There was a pause before he returned my hug. A single tear slid down my face, due to the sweetness.

Finally, we broke away, and that's when Arnold found it.

"A map! It must be the route my parents took on their last trip!" We ran back into the boarding house as Arnold called "Grandma, Grandpa! You have to see this! I found a map!"

I followed, humming our joint theme. "_Breakaway..."_

**Yeah, it sucks. But I wanted it up. Please review, no matter what you thought. And if you want me to write any more about Nicole, review to tell me what you'd like to see. If it's bonding time for Nicole and any other character, I'm game!**


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